Would you turn to the 102nd Psalm,
Psalm 102. The titles of all these psalms
are a part of inspiration. They're all inspired and that
gives us some idea of the Subject matter of this psalm, look what
it says, a prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed and poureth
out his complaint before the Lord. Now that is the thought
of the psalmist as he pens this psalm. Let's read it together.
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in
the day when I'm in trouble. Incline thine ear unto me. In
the day when I call, answer me speedily. For my days are consumed
like smoke, and my bones are burned as in hearth. My heart
is smitten and withered like grass so that I forget to eat
my bread. By reason of the voice of my
groaning, my bones cleave to my skin. I am like a pelican
of the wilderness. I'm like an owl of the desert.
I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop. Mine enemies reproach me all
the day and they that are mad against me are sworn against
me. For I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with
weeping because of thine indignation and thy wrath. For thou has lifted
me up and cast me down. My days are like a shadow that
declineth. I am withered like grass. But
thou, O Lord, shalt endure forever and thy remembrance unto all
generations. Thou shalt arise and have mercy
upon Zion for the time to favor her. Yea, the set time is come
for thy servants take pleasure in her stones and favor the dust
thereof. So the heathen shall fear the
name of the Lord and all the kings of the earth, thy glory.
When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his
glory. He will regard the prayer of
the destitute and not despise their prayer. This shall be written
for the generation to come, and the people which shall be created
shall praise the Lord. For he hath looked down from
the height of his sanctuary. From heaven did the Lord behold
the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to loose those
that are appointed to death. to declare the name of the Lord
in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem. When the people are gathered
together in the kingdoms to serve the Lord, he weakened my strength
in the way. He shortened my days. I said,
oh my God, take me not away in the midst of my days. Thy years
are throughout all generations. Of old has thou laid the foundation
of the earth. and the heavens are the work
of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure. Yea, all
of them shall wax old like a garment, as a vesture shalt thou change
them. And they shall be changed, but
thou art the same. And thy years shall have no end. The children of thy servants
shall continue and their seed shall be established before thee. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word, how we thank you for your written word. Lord, we, by your grace, believe
every word you say, and we believe that every word in this book
you've given us is written by you. And for that, we give thanks. We thank you for the gospel that
you reveal in your word. We thank you for your character
you reveal in your word. Lord, we thank you for your grace.
We thank you for all your glorious attributes. Lord, we say holy
and reverend is thy name and we bow before you. Lord, give
us a spirit of worship. Cause your gospel to be preached
in the power of your spirit. For Christ's sake, forgive us
of our sins for Christ's sake. Speak to each heart here according
to your will. Give us what we need. Lord, be
with all your people wherever your gospel is preached. Accept
our thanksgiving in Christ's name we pray, amen. Now, the title to this psalm
gives us what this is about, a prayer of the afflicted when
he is overwhelmed and poureth his complaint before the Lord. Now, many think that this psalm
was written right at the end of the 70 years of captivity
that Israel had been in, you will remember that the whole
nation was removed from Israel and brought into the land of
captivity for 70 years. And look in verse 13, thou shalt
arise and have mercy upon Zion for the time to favor her, the
set time has come. Do you know Daniel and Jeremiah
gave the time when Israel would return. And this could be what
this is referring to. Verse 14, for thy servants take
pleasure in her stones and favor the dust thereof. This is talking
about the temple that had been ransacked. And they were saying,
your servants prefer her stones to everything else they wanted
back in there from the land of captivity. Now, that may be the
case. But I believe more than anything
else, as we read this psalm, these are the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ as God has forsaken him. And he is feeling completely
isolated. When we read of those three birds,
the pelican and the wilderness, when's the last time you saw
a pelican in the wilderness? That speaks of its isolation.
out of place when you, the owl of the desert, the sparrow alone
on the housetop. The Lord is speaking of his isolation
from the father. The father had forsaken him.
He had no angels helping him. His people had all forsaken him
and fled. And he is alone. And this is his cry to his father
from the darkness. He was overwhelmed. Now, I can't
understand that. But he is the one who said, I
am the man that has seen afflictions, stricken, smitten, and afflicted. That's his description, the scripture's
description of what was taking place when God forsook him. And so you have felt this way,
no doubt. I'm sure you felt overwhelmed
before. Overwhelmed. Your heart smitten. Everybody's experienced that
to one degree or another, but nothing like this. Stricken,
smitten, and afflicted. See him dying on the tree. Tis the Christ. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let
my cry come unto thee. If I'm a believer, this is what
I do when my heart is overwhelmed. Now I hesitate, don't really
like it when a preacher, for instance, or anybody says a believer
will do this or a believer won't do that. It's not very wise. We'll see what you and I can
do apart from the grace of God. It's not very wise to make a
statement like that, but this is something I know a believer
will do when his heart is overwhelmed. He will cry unto the Lord. There's nowhere else to look.
And that is what he does. And look what he says in verse
two. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble. Incline thine ear unto me in
the day when I call, answer me speedily. Now the Lord, his father's face was hidden
from him. Who can understand what that
means? His father's face was hidden
from him, and he felt completely isolated. Here's something else
I can't get a grasp of. He was a human being. The Lord
Jesus Christ, the Creator, was a human being, and he felt all
of this as his father had forsaken him. Now, somebody says, is this
just about Christ? No, it's about me and you too.
No doubt about it, but nobody has suffered the way he suffered. He's the one who said, I am the
man that hath seen affliction. None of us have seen affliction
like he did. He says, for my days, verse three,
My days are consumed like smoke. My days have no more substance
than smoke that appears for a little while and is gone. My bones are
burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten, withered like grass so that I
forget to eat my bread. smitten, stricken, and afflicted,
see him dying on the tree, tis the Christ, by man rejected,
O my soul, tis he, tis he. By reason of the voice of my
groaning, My bones cleave to my skin. Now you've groaned. You've groaned
in sorrow. You've groaned in frustration. You've groaned. I've groaned.
But there was no groaning like this. The groaning of the Son
of God. By reason of the voice of my
groaning, my bones cleave to my skin. He speaks of his isolation. I'm like a pelican of the wilderness.
I'm like an owl of the desert. I watch and am as a sparrow alone
upon the housetop. Now the Lord is speaking of his
utter and complete isolation. I can read this and I'm amazed. This is the son of God, forsaken
by his father, bearing the sins of his people, bearing the shame
of his people, separated from his father. He didn't have any
angels helping him like he did in the Garden of Gethsemane.
His people had all forsaken him and fled, and he is alone. Verse eight, Mine enemies reproach
me all the day. The Lord experienced that every
day of his life. They that are mad against me
are sworn against me. You may have felt this way toward
people, but not like he did. For I have eaten ashes like bread,
and mingled my drink with weeping because of thine indignation
and thy wrath. For thou has lifted me up and
cast me down. Now you may have felt like that,
but it hadn't happened. He experienced this. He was lifted
up and cast down by his father. Now I, Don't forget the Lord
was getting exactly what he deserved because my sin became his sin. He became guilty of my sin. This is what I deserve. He took
what I deserve. I deserve to be forsaken by God. I deserve to be lifted up and
cast down, but I'm not because my Lord took this for me as my
substitute for the glory of his name, for the glory of his father's
name, and out of love to his people. This is what he experienced
on the cross. Verse 11, my days are like a
shadow that declineth. I am withered like grass. Now that's the Lord's assessment
of himself. Now you felt this way before,
no doubt, not to the extent that he did. But verse 12, I love the butts
in scripture. All of a sudden the voice is
going to change. But, and I have no doubt that
even in the Lord's being forsaken, he didn't forget about the glory
and beauty and loveliness of his father. He didn't forget
about all the glorious attributes of his father. And that's what
he's going to speak of now. You see, he never quit believing.
Me and you, when we're in this condition, we quit believing.
We think we're cut off. Not one time did he ever quit
believing his father. Somebody had to trust God perfectly.
He did. Oh, he's so glorious. He did. But Thou, O Lord, shalt endure
forever, and thy remembrance unto all
generations." Now, even in his affliction, even in him being
smitten, he's thinking of the glory of his father. You're going
to endure forever. All your attributes are going
to continue. I think one of the things that
I love to every believer loves about the Lord is his holiness,
his otherness. He's not like anything in this
creation. He is outside of this creation. And even on the cross,
the Lord is thinking of the glory of the person of his heavenly
father, his eternal union with him. And he says, but thou, O
Lord, shall endure forever. That's talking about the eternity
of God. He never began. He'll never end. Thy remembrance unto all generations. Thou shalt arise and have mercy
upon Zion. You know, the Lord is even thinking
of the salvation of the church in him being forsaken. Here's
what's going to happen. Thou shalt arise. and have mercy
upon Zion for the time to favor her. The set time has come. Now this has been said, this
is speaking of a reference to Jeremiah and Daniel's prophecy
as to when the children of Israel will be delivered from the captivity.
It may be, but the time of favor is a set time. God said it as
he did everything else. For thy servants take pleasure
in her stones. Speaking of the temple that had
been torn down, but everything that has anything to do with
the church of the living God, it's your favor, the dust thereof.
Now, I, you know, when I, I hear people talk about the church,
church is in bad shape. Oh, the problems in the church,
the sin in the church, the blood, blood, blood, you know, church
is in good shape. Church is his church, the church
of the living God. When people talk about the church
being in bad shape, don't say that to the Lord. The church
is just in perfect shape in the Lord Jesus Christ, and God's
people take pleasure in the dust thereof. Verse 15, for the heathen
shall fear the name of the Lord. Oh, Lord was taken soulless to
himself and that the heathen, they're going to fear the name
of the Lord. They're going to have respect and reverence and
all for the name of the Lord and the Kings of the earth. Thy
glory. When the Lord shall build up
Zion upon this rock, will I build my church? When I read of, um, church planting,
we're going to go plant the church. Oh, Good for you. Doesn't work
that way. The Lord builds his church. When the Lord shall build up
Zion, he shall appear in his glory. He will regard the prayer
of the destitute. Now, who are these people? Same
people the Lord referred to when he said, blessed are the poor
in spirit. The destitute, those who have
nothing to bring to the table, those who have nothing they can
offer up to God. They're called the destitute. The Lord will regard the prayer
of the destitute and not despise their prayer. This shall be written. You know, the psalmist, he knew
he was writing scripture when he was. How did he know? I don't
know. But he said this should be written
what I'm writing right now. It's going to be written. But
in September, whatever today is 17th, 2023, God's people will
be looking at this song and they're going to hear what's being said.
This should be written for the generation to come and the people
which shall be created. I love that God's people are
people he created. This is talking about the new
birth. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. a new creation. And he's talking
about that. You know, every doctrine in the
new Testament was seen clearly by everybody in the old Testament. Now they were looking forward
to it. We're looking back, but believers have always believed
the same thing. They believe in new creation then. A people
that shall be created shall praise the Lord. That's what happens
when he creates someone, they praise the Lord for who he is.
You know, people say praise the Lord can be such an empty, irreverent
thing to say, but when you're praising him for who he is, celebrating
who he is, all of his glorious attributes, that's praise to
the Lord. Verse 19, for he hath looked
down from the height of his sanctuary. He's doing that right now. He's
looking down. From heaven did the Lord behold
the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner. Now, this groan
sounds something like this. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who should deliver me from this
body of death? Every believer knows what that
means. You have an old, sinful, wicked nature right now, present
tense, that you're aware of and you hate. You hate it. And you groan. And the Lord looks
down from heaven and he hears that groan. In the next psalm
that we're going to look at next week, it says, he knoweth our
frame. He remembereth that we are dust. To loose those, to set those
free that are appointed to death, to declare the name of the Lord
in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem. Now that's what this thing of
preaching is about. That's what we're doing right
now. We're declaring his name. We're declaring who he is. Isn't that what the preaching
of the gospel is? It's a declaration of the name,
the character, the attributes of the glorious God as they're
seen in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the declaration
of His name. That's why we meet together,
for the declaration of His name. And you know what happens whenever
His name is declared? Praise in Jerusalem. We love
Him for who He is. We love all of His glorious attributes. Don't you love the way He's made
a way to be just and justify the ungodly? Don't you love all
of his sovereignty, his power, his wisdom. We declare his name. I love the cross being a declaration
of his character. God made the cross to save men.
Well, men are saved by it, no doubt about it, but God had the
cross come to declare his holy name. That's his purpose in all
things. Verse 22, when the people are
gathered together, I hope that's what we're doing right now. The
gathering of his saints and the kingdoms to serve the Lord. Now
he goes back to what he was saying at the first of the psalm. He
weakened my strength in the way he shortened my days. Now remember,
only the Lord can say this. This is not, this is not something
just a man could say. He was thinking of the eternity
of his father and he was thinking of his death at the time and
his short life in comparison, he was 33 years old, but his
short life in comparison with the eternity, the immutable God. I said, Oh my God, take me not
away in the midst of my days, thy years are throughout all
generations. Now this is quoted in Hebrews
chapter one of the father speaking to the son. And this is one of
the most glorious descriptions. Verse 25, of old has thou laid
the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of thy
hands. Now he's speaking of his creation. Creation says God is. Somebody says, I don't believe
that. Well, there was a time when you did. There was a time
when you did. Maybe you've changed your mind
now. But deep down, everyone knows God is. And I don't care how confirmed
someone is in their atheism. Not down deep. Not down deep. Every man is born with this knowledge. The heavens declare the glory
of God and the earth showeth forth his handiwork. Of old hast
thou laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the
work of thy hands. They shall perish. Talking about the creation,
the heavens, the earth. God's gonna destroy it all. There's
gonna be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
They shall perish, but thou shalt endure. Yea, all of them shall
wax old like a garment. As a vesture shalt thou change
them and they shall be changed. Now the picture here is a garment
of old blanket, garment, whatever it is, fold it up and put it
away. It's no good anymore. It's no
good. Just fold it up. How many items
of clothing do you have in your house or blankets that have just
been there for years? You don't use them anymore. Fold
them up. Put them away. They're no good.
But. Thou art the same. Jesus Christ. The same. yesterday, today, and forever. God said in Malachi chapter three,
I am the Lord. I change not. You know, if he did change, it
would either be for the better or for the worse, wouldn't it?
And if that were the case, he would not be God. That means
he would improve or he would become worse. No, he never changes,
the immutability of God. I am the Lord, I change not. Change and decay in all around
I see, O thou that changest not. Aren't you thankful he didn't
change? What he was, he is. What he is, he always will be. There's no change in him. That's
why I'll be saved, because he never changes. If he did change,
he'd get rid of me. You believe that? If he did change,
out with him. But he does not change. I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not Consume the children of thy servant shall continue. Why?
Because he didn't change. You know the reason you persevere
in faith? Because he didn't change. That's the only reason. You change. Think how many times you change
in an hour. The different thoughts you have,
the different You change, but you will continue because he
never changes. The children of thy servants
shall continue and their seed shall be established before thee
because you're the same. How glorious, you never change.